A crowd-sourced effort to provide creators of characters for DC Comics since 1975 with equity participation contracts. Not an official DC Comics site, this is a cooperative project bringing together fans and pros. Help your favorite pro creator claim his or her fair share!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

In All Fairness - Help Comic Creators Get What They're Owed

I need your help.

DC Comics is a great company.

It was the first major publisher to offer creator contracts on a regular basis, allowing the men and women who create characters for DC books to share in the profits those characters generate in other media. You may say, that's only fair, but until the mid-1970s it was standard policy for comic book publishers to buy all rights in perpetuity upon payment for a single story. Writers and artists received no further payment for their work after that first check -- no money for reprints, no money for toys based on characters they'd created, no money for movies or TV shows or games or trading cards.

Nada, zip, zilch.

DC Comics changed that.

Starting in the mid-70s DC offered creators an opportunity for what they called "equity participation." With the appropriate paperwork submitted and signed, DC creators would receive a share of the profits generated by their creations. Like I said, you may think this is only fair, but in the '70s it hit the business like a revelation. And for more than thirty years it's given quite a few creators an extra bit of income -- in some cases, for some older creators, the only real income they receive from comics.

So, to repeat, DC Comics is a great company.

But, like all companies, it's a business, and its first priority is to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and maximize profits. So tracking which character was created by which writer and artist team thirty or forty years ago isn't part of their business plan. It's just too much work, and it requires a dedication and devotion to detail that only one group in the world has in abundant quantities:

You, the fans.

A personal note. I started this site because some of my fans alerted me to the use in the TV series "Arrow" of characters I co-created in the late 1970s, early 1980s. Without those fans I wouldn't have known those characters were appearing. I wouldn't have filed equity participation paperwork with DC. And neither I nor the artists I worked with would be eligible to receive money for the use of those characters. DC does not make payments retroactive. If a creator wants to claim equity participation in a character he or she co-created, they need to do so proactively.

Which is where you come in.

If you're a fan of DC comics published since 1975, you can help your favorite pros -- not just me, but any writer or artist who worked on DC's titles. Go through your collection. Look for the first appearances of any character, major or minor, hero/villain/sidekick/bystander from the years 1975 on. Download and fill out the DC Comics Character Equity Request form (you'll find the link below) and email it to the creators involved. Most creators have an active presence on the web, either on Facebook, or Twitter, or through their own web sites or fan pages. Reach out to them. Encourage them to file the paperwork you prepared with DC.

Help them get their fair share.

Obviously, I include myself (Gerry Conway) in this list. I can use your help, too.

Between 1975 and the mid-80s I wrote literally hundreds of comics for DC and created dozens of characters. FIRESTORM, JUSTICE LEAGUE, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, BATMAN, SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN, on and on and on. There's no way I can single-handedly track down each and every character who made their first appearance in a story I wrote. But all of you working together, each doing one or two characters -- you can crowd-source it.

Download the form, fill it out, attach a piece of art identifying the character, and send it to the email link below with the subject line EQUITY. To prevent duplication of effort by fellow fans (and to claim credit for your help!) post a comment to this blog identifying the character you've discovered.

On behalf of all the DC creators who would otherwise never know, literally, what they're missing, thank you!

I am the founder of the Marvel and DC Databases (linked above and below). We have created the largest crowd-sourced database of comics information on the Internet, including information on which writers and artists created which characters.

Though our databases are not exhaustive, they are likely the most complete in existence, and we specialize in research of this nature. I'd like to help out with this initiative if I can.

I will reach out to you via email with my contact information. I think we could jump-start your initiative.

Here is the equivalent link, for your Marvel creations: http://marvel.wikia.com/Category:Gerry_Conway/Creator

Does DC still do this? Last week in a Twitter exchange, Mark Waid seemed to indicate they had changed their policy on discretionary payments to creators whose work is used in outside media adaptations after Paul Levitz left. Was he talking about something else?

This is what I was able to find for you within 2 1/2 hours of research. I am willing to look up more for you or any other artist or writer. The only thing I would ask from any artist that I do this for is a quick sketch of a D.C. character after they receive their complete list. I hope you and anyone else involved in creating these fascinating characters gets all the payments they are due.

Our endeavors towards client security have constantly achieved client's thankfulness and are being depended by everybody all through the planet. When you purchase expositions from us, rest guaranteed of completing the work by industry specialists, since we never make due with average quality in our work. Can you Write my Research Paper

We are glad to appreciate the organization of the most skilled and very much experienced group of journalists. Their most extreme devotion and energy engage us to outfit you with an administration stuffed with capable highlights, advantages and certifications. Do my Assignment USA

I moreover consider your submit title and your firmly genuinely exhibit your factor of view Essay Help. i'm astoundingly super hot to look this post. You have to perceive life. Continuously be wrapped by people that you like, people who have a faultless trade. There are such limitless things to consider. awesome post, a dedication of gratefulness is all together to share.

A captivating Assignment Help UK and enlightening point you have bestowed to us… thank you such an incredible sum for this sharing, We need to maintain a strategic distance from this desperation of desire, where people need to drive support automobiles and wear lovely pieces of clothing and live in better than average condominiums however would incline toward not to endeavor to complete these things. Everyone should attempt to comprehend their greatest limit. great post, a commitment of thankfulness is all together to share. keep it up.

Neha Kakkar is a present day amazing playback craftsman, craftsman, and on-screen character in the India. She is a champion among the most surely understood among the Bollywood playback craftsmen. Starting at now, Neha Kakkar has given her voice in packs of standard songs.